Concordia Adult Bible Class

When the disciples are caught in a furious squall on the Sea of Galilee, they offer up a simple, ineloquent prayer: “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” No matter how simple the prayer, Jesus hears and helps because Jesus has been there the whole time. As we process what has happened with Hurricane Harvey, we must remember that Jesus hears and helps us when we pray because He is not only the calmer of storms, He is with us through every storm.

After all that Joseph’s brothers have done to him, when Joseph becomes second in command in Egypt, he could use his power to exact vengeance from his brothers. But instead, he eventually reconciles with his brothers. In Genesis 43, when the brothers are getting ready to go see their brother Joseph a second time, Judah offers to bear the blame if something happens to his younger brother Benjamin. How far are we willing to go to love our families?

After being thrown into a cistern, Joseph eventually winds up in prison in Egypt. But even in prison, Joseph seeks to serve God by helping others. During our worst times, do we seek to help others, or are we only focused on ourselves?

Every family is broken. Just ask Joseph. His brothers hate him so much that they throw him into a cistern and almost leave him for dead. When our families are filled with brokenness and acrimony, we must seek reconciliation and forgiveness.

The summer of 2017 has been an amazing summer for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ both at home and afar. Our mission teams from Alaska, Oklahoma, and Texas share stories and testimonies about the work God did, and continues to do.

When Jacob falls in love with his uncle’s daughter, Rachel, he is willing to do anything to get her. Love drives us to do many things. This is why we can be thankful that God’s love for us drove Him to do the ultimate thing – to sacrifice His Son for our salvation.

From the womb, two brothers, Jacob and Esau, feud with each other. When we feud with others, how are we to handle these feuds? Our desire to love others must always be stronger than our desire to triumph over others.

God makes an unthinkable request of Abraham – to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. But a human sacrifice can never atone for human sins. God Himself must provide the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Sodom and Gomorrah were the epitome of wickedness in the ancient world. Yet, in spite of their wickedness, Abraham argues for God’s grace. When we see wickedness, how do we argue? Do you we argue for judgment or grace?

God continues to seek new beginnings in a world filled with old sin. He makes a promise to Abraham to, from him, bring forth a new nation that will be a beacon of righteousness in a world darkened by sin. He also shows us how righteousness ultimately comes about – by faith.

Noah brings a new beginning, but humanity quickly falls back into its old ways as it seeks to usurp God’s position by building a tall tower. This tower demonstrates both the folly and the danger of human ambition. Human ambition is filled with folly because, of course, no one can build a tower to the heavens. But human ambition is also filled with danger because it cannot compete with God’s perfect commands.

As man’s wickedness increases, God’s justice against sin is finally rendered in the form of a flood. But out of disaster emerges a man chosen by God to bring forth a new beginning – Noah. As “new creations” (2 Corinthians 5:17), we too are called to bring forth new beginnings in a world that is filled with sin.

The effects of Adam and Eve’s fall into sin quickly become apparent in the story of Cain and Abel. Hatred and death quickly have their way. But in the face of evil, God both exacts justice and gives grace. He forces Cain to wander the earth, but he also protects Cain’s life even though he has taken his brother’s life.

God’s good creation was quickly corrupted by a bad decision. If Genesis 1 describes the best of times, Genesis 3 ushers in the worst of times and sets up a tension for the rest of the book, for the rest of the Bible, and for all of history. We live in this tension, however, with hope, for God has promised to swallow up the worst of times in His Son.

How did all we see get here? This is the question that Genesis 1 answers. The great promise of this chapter, however, lies not in how everything got here, but in what everything that God created is: it is good.